For whatever building #93 ends up in, donations to our Trolley Fund with the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation will go to #93's upkeep and preservation. For those wanting to donate in celebration of the 100 year mark, it is very much appreciated! BUT, there is another donation opportunity more toward an advertising option, as illustrated by the following images. The first one shows #93 at its iconic turnaround loop at the corner of Willard Street and Willow, Jamestown, New York. Looking closely inside the car, you can see the typical advertisng signs that were used above the seats on trolley cars and later on they were used on buses.
The idea is to offer the poster advertising space on the trolley for a donation to the trolley preservation fund. A $300 to $500 donation will get a poster spot that will be used in the car up to and including the first year that the car "moves in" to its new home. After that, we may try to keep things interesting by rotating out some to make room for new arrivals.
Donors can come up with their own design or provide / specify their desired design elements that we can use to facilitate creating a poster. What is needed is an image of sufficient resolution and proportion that we can then have printed to an 11" x 20" size including a 1/4" white border around the entire perimeter.
I like this idea because it works out that two of some of my favorite things can be used to illustrate it. I wrote a book on Early Chautauqua County Beer Brewing and Bottling, (always available for purchase by emailing me at park2@netsync.net). The poster in the trolley advertises 400 Beverages. That was a product of the early Jamestown Brewing Company mentioned in the book. Also, one of my earliest history interests was Chautauqua Lake Steamboats. The images below show an original trolley advertising poster for Swell Blend Coffee (before and after being digitally repaired) that used a Chautauqua Lake steamboat in their advertising.
The following two images show how the Swell Blend poster looks when mounted in the trolley.
Images below show a few more examples of some of the trolley posters from back in the day. So far, all of those that have been found have been extremely brittle and break apart fairly easily. The Swell Blend poster had pieces missing, but enough was there so it could be digitally repaired. Note: The Swell Blend, along with the Ideal Peerless Laundry, Bank and Restaurant posters below, came to us through the efforts of antique dealers Tom Karapantso and Peter Jablonski.
Images below show even more examples of some of the trolley posters from back in the day. This group of posters was recovered during a home remodeling project. The interior walls were taken down to the studs revealing the posters over the spaces between the exterior sheathing boards to keep out the elements.
Below is an example of what the Jamestown Street Railway may have used back in the day along with the posters that have been created for those donating so far. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Donors can come up with their own design or provide / specify their desired design elements that we can use to facilitate creating a poster. What is ultimately needed is a digital image of sufficient resolution and proportion that we can then have it printed to an 11" x 20" size. Please contact Bob Johnston at 716-338-5051 or email park2@netsync.net for more inforation about donating for a poster.
